Basic German: Describe Your Work

When you talk about yourself to a new acquaintance, you often answer many of the same key questions: What kind of job do you do? Where do you work? Are you self-employed? Are you a student? Where do you live? Because you’ll encounter these topics often, you need to be prepared. The following sections provide you with the information you need.

Say you start chatting with a guy you meet at a friend’s party. He may ask you what you do for a living. For example, he may ask any of the following:

A few simple words and expressions help you describe your job and company. In most cases, you can describe what kind of work you do by connecting Ich bin . . . (iH bin . . .) (I am . . .) with the name of your occupation, without using any article. Most names for jobs exist in a female and male form. The male form frequently ends with -er; the female form usually ends with -in. Here are some examples:

If you’re a student, you may want to say what you’re studying. You do this with the phrase Ich studiere . . . (iH shtoo-dee-re . . .) (I am studying . . .). At the end of the sentence, you add the name of your field (without any article). Some fields you may use include the following:

Architektur (âr-Hi-têk-toohr) (architecture)

Betriebswirtschaft (be-treeps-virt-shâft) (business administration)

Softwaretechnik (soft–wair-têH-nik) (software engineering)

Kunst (koonst) (art)

Literaturwissenschaft (li-te-rah-toohr-vis-en-shâft) (literature)

Biochemie (bee-oh-Hey-mee) (biochemistry)

You also can describe what you do with the phrase Ich bin . . . (iH bin . . .) (I am . . .). You end the phrase with an appropriate adjective. For example, you may say any of the following:

Your company name, place of work, or line of work may be almost as important as the actual work you do. The phrase Ich arbeite bei . . ./in . . . (iH âr-bay-te bay . . ./in . . .) (I work at . . ./in . . .) tells someone, in a nutshell, where you earn your money. Consider these examples:

Ich arbeite bei der Firma. . . . (iH âr-bay-te bay dêr fir-mâ. . . .) (I work at the company. . . .) After the word Firma, you simply insert the name of the company you work for.